After a meeting between representatives of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria and the French government in Qamişlo, 15 ISIS women and 32 children from Camp Roj have been returned to France. The adults were handed over to justice.
France has repatriated 47 of its nationals from the autonomous region of Northern and Eastern Syria. The 15 women and 32 children were held in Camp Roj as members of the Islamic State.
The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs announced that the minors have been taken into care by child and youth protection agencies, where they will receive medical and social care. The adults were handed over to the judicial authorities.
In the run-up to the repatriation, a meeting between representatives of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria (AANES) and the French government took place in Qamişlo on Sunday. In the meeting, between AANES External Relations Department co-chair Bedran Çiya Kurd and a French delegation led by Stéphane Romatet, Director of the Crisis Management and Support Center at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both sides stressed that support for the AANES' fight against terrorism should not be limited to the military level, but should also include economic and humanitarian aid.
The meeting discussed the Syrian-Turkish rapprochement and current developments in the region, including Turkey's recent military escalations and the threat still posed by ISIS.
The Syrian-Turkish rapprochement is at the expense of "a large section of the Syrian people," Çiya Kurd said, adding: "It undermines efforts to find a political solution in Syria and makes UN efforts to find a political solution consistent with UN Resolution 2254 destroyed.”
Kurd emphasized the need to support the stability of the autonomous region in political, economic and humanitarian areas and called for “transparent positions”.
French representative Stéphane Romatet said that his government is closely following developments in Northern and Eastern Syria and that the presence of ISIS is threatening. France is determined to stay in the region until the anti-ISIS mission is over. Various sectors need to be supported in Northern and Eastern Syria, especially water supply and agriculture, and his country will support these efforts.
According to the Rojava Information Center, France has so far brought back a total of 47 women and 144 children from northeastern Syria. ISIS women and minors have already been returned to Barbados and Spain this year.
